How to Cite, Structure a Paper, and Format Your Reference List
In-text citation rules, reference list format for every source type, page layout requirements, heading levels, how ASA differs from APA, and the errors that cost marks on sociology papers.
ASA format trips students up for one main reason: it looks a lot like APA. Both use author-date in-text citations. Both have reference lists. But the details are different — enough that mixing them up costs marks. A colon instead of a comma before page numbers. “Pp.” instead of “p.” in edited volume entries. Endnotes instead of footnotes. These seem minor until your instructor marks you down for using the wrong one. This guide covers how ASA actually works — citation format, reference list rules for different source types, page layout, heading levels, and the formatting rules that are specific to sociology papers.
What This Guide Covers
What ASA Format Is and Where It Is Used
ASA stands for the American Sociological Association. Their style guide — currently in its 6th edition — sets the formatting and citation rules for papers submitted to sociology journals and, by extension, for sociology coursework at most universities that teach the discipline.
If you are taking a sociology course, this is almost certainly the citation style your instructor expects. Some adjacent disciplines — social work, criminology, urban studies — also use ASA. If your brief says “use ASA format” or “follow ASA guidelines,” you need to apply the rules covered here throughout your entire paper: citation format, reference list, font, margins, headings, and notes.
The Style Guide
The authoritative source is the ASA Style Guide, 6th Edition, published by the American Sociological Association (2019). Your university library almost certainly has a copy. When your instructor says “follow ASA,” this is what they mean.
Where It Is Required
Sociology papers at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Submissions to ASA journals including American Sociological Review and American Journal of Sociology. Some criminology, social work, and public health programmes.
Check Your Brief First
Some sociology instructors allow APA instead. Some specify a particular edition of the ASA guide. A few require footnotes even though ASA technically uses endnotes. Read your brief and confirm with your instructor before you start formatting.
The American Sociological Association publishes formatting guidance and example citations directly through its style resources. Their official style guide page at asanet.org/publications/journals/asa-style-guide/ is the primary reference for all ASA formatting decisions, including updates to the 6th edition. When in doubt, that is the authoritative source — not a citation generator, not a third-party summary website.
Page Layout: Margins, Font, Spacing
These are not suggestions. ASA specifies the exact page setup for all papers. Get them right before you write anything, not after.
Double-spacing applies everywhere: title page, abstract, body text, block quotations, reference list entries, and notes. There is no section of an ASA paper that is single-spaced. Block quotations — for quotes of 50 words or more — are indented but still double-spaced. The reference list is double-spaced between and within entries.
Times New Roman, 12pt, throughout. No decorative fonts, no sans-serif for headings, no size changes for subheadings. The only text that changes size is the title — which stays in Times New Roman but sits on the title page without a special size specification in the style guide. Use 12pt for everything.
One inch on all sides — top, bottom, left, right. Set this in your word processor’s document settings, not by adjusting paragraph indents manually. Some word processors default to slightly different margins; check before you start writing.
Double-spaced throughout. This includes the reference list — do not single-space references or add extra space between entries. ASA does not specify line spacing for tables, but keep text within tables clean and readable. Block quotations (50+ words) are indented half an inch from the left margin and remain double-spaced.
Indent the first line of each new paragraph by half an inch (0.5″). Use the paragraph indent setting in your word processor — not the tab key. The reference list uses hanging indent format: first line flush with the left margin, all subsequent lines of the same entry indented 0.5 inches.
Page numbers go in the upper right corner of each page, preceded by a short header. ASA requires a running header — typically an abbreviated title — in the upper left, with the page number in the upper right. Check whether your instructor requires this or just page numbers; for coursework, many do not enforce the running header.
Title Page and Abstract
ASA papers have a specific title page structure. This is the first page the reader sees — and it is also where many students make formatting errors without realising it.
What Goes on the ASA Title Page
The title of the paper, centred, in the upper half of the page. Below the title: the author’s name. Below the name: the institutional affiliation (your university and department). Below that: a word count. Below that: the running head (an abbreviated title, all caps, no more than 50 characters including spaces). Some instructors also ask for the course name, instructor name, and submission date — follow your brief for those additions.
Note: Do not bold or underline the title on the title page. Do not use a larger font size than the rest of the paper. The title sits centred in standard 12pt Times New Roman.Abstract Format in ASA
The abstract appears on a separate page immediately after the title page, before the body of the paper. It is a single paragraph — not indented — of 150 to 200 words. Label it “Abstract” centred at the top of the page. Below the abstract, include three to five keywords preceded by the label “Keywords:” in italics. The abstract should summarise the research question, method, findings, and significance. It is written last, but placed second in the paper.
Common mistake: Students often skip the abstract for shorter papers because it feels unnecessary. If your brief asks for ASA format and does not explicitly say “no abstract required,” include one. ASA papers have abstracts.Heading Levels in ASA
ASA uses three heading levels. The formatting is specific and does not match APA or Chicago.
| Level | Format | Example | When to Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| First level | Centred, bold, title case | Theoretical Framework |
Main section headings — method, findings, discussion, conclusion |
| Second level | Flush left, bold, title case | Quantitative Measures |
Subsections within a main section |
| Third level | Flush left, bold, italic, title case | Survey Instrument Design |
Sub-subsections — rarely needed in undergraduate work |
ASA headings are title case — major words capitalised, minor words (and, the, of, in) lowercase unless they open the heading. They are not written in all caps. Some older ASA guides showed all-caps headings; the 6th edition does not. If your department’s template uses all-caps, follow the template. Otherwise, use title case throughout.
In-Text Citation Rules
ASA uses author-date citations. The year follows the author’s last name in parentheses. That is the core of every in-text citation. The specifics change depending on how many authors the source has, whether you are quoting or paraphrasing, and where in the sentence the citation appears.
ASA uses a colon before page numbers in direct quotations: (Smith 2019:45). APA uses a comma and “p.”: (Smith, 2019, p. 45). These are different systems. Using APA punctuation in an ASA paper is an error. The colon is the single most common in-text citation mistake students make when switching from APA to ASA. Get this right from the first citation.
When to Include a Page Number
Only for direct quotations — when you use the author’s exact words. Paraphrasing does not require a page number in ASA. This is different from some other styles where instructors encourage page numbers for paraphrases. In ASA: quote = page number required. Paraphrase = year only.
Citing the Same Author, Multiple Works, Same Year
Add lowercase letters after the year: (Bourdieu 1986a) and (Bourdieu 1986b). Apply the same letter system in the reference list — list the two works alphabetically by title and assign letters accordingly. This prevents any ambiguity about which source you are referring to.
Reference List: Rules and Format
In ASA, the final list of sources is called “References” — not “Works Cited,” not “Bibliography.” That label sits centred at the top of the page.
Alphabetical Order
Entries are listed alphabetically by the first author’s last name. If you have multiple works by the same author, list them chronologically — earliest first. Same author, same year: use a, b, c after the year.
Hanging Indent
Each entry uses a hanging indent — first line flush left, all subsequent lines of that entry indented 0.5 inches. Set this as a paragraph style in your word processor. Do not manually tab each line.
Double-Spacing
The entire reference list is double-spaced — between entries and within them. Do not add extra blank lines between entries and do not single-space individual entries to save space.
All Authors Listed
Unlike some styles that truncate long author lists, ASA lists all authors in the reference list regardless of how many there are. In-text you use “et al.” for three or more, but in the references, everyone gets named.
Only Cited Sources
The reference list contains only sources cited in the body of your paper. Sources you read but did not cite do not appear here. If your assignment asks for a separate bibliography of all consulted sources, that is a different document.
Author Format
The first author is listed Last, First Middle. Subsequent authors are listed First Middle Last. So: “Smith, John, and Mary Johnson” — not “Smith, John, and Johnson, Mary.” Only the first author’s name is inverted.
Reference Formats by Source Type
The general structure is the same across source types — author, year, title, publication information — but the specific elements and punctuation change. Here are the formats you will use most often.
| Source Type | Title Format | Key Distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Journal article | Article title in “quotes”; journal in italics | Volume(Issue):pages — no space between vol and issue |
| Book | Book title in italics | City: Publisher — two-letter state abbreviation if city is ambiguous |
| Book chapter | Chapter in “quotes”; book in italics | “Pp.” before page range; “edited by” before editor name |
| Website | Page title in “quotes” | “Retrieved Month Day, Year (URL)” — full date required |
| Newspaper | Article in “quotes”; paper in italics | Full date; “p.” for page number |
Endnotes: When and How to Use Them
ASA uses endnotes. Not footnotes. The distinction matters.
Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page where they are referenced. Endnotes appear on a separate page — titled “Notes” — that comes after the body of the paper and before the reference list. When you add a note in ASA, it is an endnote.
Supplementary Information That Would Interrupt the Text
Use endnotes for material that is genuinely useful but would break the flow of your argument if included in the body. Examples: a methodological qualification, a note about data limitations, a brief tangential point that is relevant but not central to the argument. Endnotes are not for citations — citations go in the body of the text using author-date format. They are not for definitions, unless the definition would interrupt an otherwise clean argument.
Rule of thumb: If the information is important enough to include, try to put it in the text. If it is supplementary and would genuinely disrupt flow, use an endnote. If you are not sure, omit it.The “Notes” page uses the centred heading “Notes” at the top. Notes are numbered consecutively throughout the paper — the number in the text is a superscript Arabic numeral, and the corresponding entry on the Notes page begins with the same number followed by a period. Notes are double-spaced with a half-inch indent on the first line of each entry, like a regular paragraph.
Tables and Figures
Sociology papers frequently include tables — especially quantitative work. ASA has specific rules for how they are formatted and placed.
Table Placement and Numbering
Tables and figures are numbered consecutively throughout the paper (Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1). In a manuscript submitted for publication, tables go at the end of the paper — one per page — after the references. For coursework, most instructors prefer tables embedded in the text near the relevant discussion. Follow your brief or ask your instructor which format to use.
Table Title and Notes
The table number and title sit above the table, flush left. The title is in title case, not italicised. Below the table, include a source note if data comes from another source: “Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2020).” Additional notes explaining table contents use lowercase letters (a, b, c) as superscripts within the table, with corresponding notes below.
Figure Format
Figure titles go below the figure — not above, as with tables. Label format: “Figure 1. Title of figure.” The label and title sit below the figure, flush left. Figures include charts, graphs, maps, and photographs. Keep figures as clean and readable as possible — no decorative backgrounds or unnecessary gridlines.
Referring to Tables in Text
Every table and figure must be referenced in the body text before it appears. Write “Table 1 shows…” or “…as shown in Figure 2.” Do not include a table without introducing it in the body. Do not describe in the text every number in the table — highlight the key findings and let the table speak for the detail.
ASA vs APA: Key Differences
If you have used APA before, you know the author-date citation system. That will help. But the differences between ASA and APA are specific enough that you cannot just “use APA rules” and assume it will pass as ASA.
ASA Format
- In-text: (Smith 2020) — no comma between author and year
- Page numbers: (Smith 2020:45) — colon, no “p.”
- Two authors: (Smith and Jones 2020) — “and,” not “&”
- Three or more: (Smith et al. 2020) — from first citation
- End section labelled “References”
- Endnotes only — separate Notes page after body, before references
- Chapter pages: “Pp. 45–72 in…” — capital “P,” two p’s
- Journal: Volume(Issue):pages — no spaces
- All authors listed in reference list — no truncation
- Running head required in manuscripts
APA 7th Format
- In-text: (Smith, 2020) — comma between author and year
- Page numbers: (Smith, 2020, p. 45) — comma and “p.”
- Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2020) — “&” in parentheses
- Three or more: (Smith et al., 2020) — from first citation
- End section labelled “References”
- Footnotes allowed for content notes
- Chapter pages: “pp. 45–72” — lowercase, before “In”
- Journal: Volume(Issue), pages — different spacing/punctuation
- Up to 20 authors; ellipsis for more
- Running head required only for manuscripts, not student papers
Go through every in-text citation and check for commas. APA uses commas; ASA does not. Then check every direct quotation for page number punctuation — APA comma-p, ASA colon-no-p. Those two checks will catch the majority of citation crossover errors before your instructor does.
Common Formatting Errors That Cost Marks
Using APA Punctuation in ASA Citations
Writing (Smith, 2020, p. 45) instead of (Smith 2020:45). Or using “&” instead of “and” for two authors. These are not minor style preferences — they are errors in a different citation system. ASA and APA are not interchangeable despite the surface similarity.
Learn the Three Core ASA Differences
No comma between author and year. Colon before page number, no “p.” “And” not “&” for two authors in-text. Those three rules cover the majority of in-text citation errors. Check every citation against them before you submit.
Capitalising Article Titles in the Reference List
ASA uses sentence case for article titles in the reference list — only the first word and proper nouns are capitalised. Writing “The Sociology Of Race And Inequality” instead of “The sociology of race and inequality” is an error. Book titles follow title case. Article titles do not.
Sentence Case for Articles, Title Case for Books
Article titles in the reference list: capitalise only the first word and proper nouns. Book titles and journal names: capitalise all major words. This distinction is consistent across all ASA reference entries. Check each entry individually — it is easy to apply the wrong rule by habit.
Using “p.” Instead of “Pp.” for Chapter Page Ranges
In a chapter reference, ASA requires “Pp. 45–72 in…” with a capital P and two p’s. Students often write “p. 45–72” or “pp. 45–72” (lowercase). The capitalisation is a specific ASA convention that distinguishes it from APA’s lowercase format.
Capitalised “Pp.” for Edited Volume Page Ranges
When citing a chapter in an edited book, the page range comes before the book title: “Pp. 100–120 in Book Title, edited by…” Capital P, lowercase p, period, space, then the range. This is the standard ASA format for book chapters and it differs from both APA and Chicago.
Listing Only the First Author in the Reference List
Writing “Smith, John, et al. 2019.” in the reference list because the source had five authors. ASA requires all authors to be listed in the reference list — every one of them, regardless of how many. “Et al.” is only for in-text citations with three or more authors.
List Every Author in References, Use Et Al. Only In-Text
In-text: three or more authors → (Smith et al. 2019). In the reference list: list all authors in full. “Smith, John, Mary Jones, David Park, and Susan Kim. 2019.” No truncation, no “et al.” in the reference list itself.
Single-Spacing the Reference List
The reference list is double-spaced throughout — both within entries and between entries. Many students single-space their references to save space or because they think it looks cleaner. ASA does not allow this. Double-spacing is mandatory throughout the entire paper.
Double-Space Everything, Including References
Set your document to double-spacing before you start writing and leave it there. Do not adjust spacing in the reference list. Do not add extra blank lines between entries — double-spacing provides enough visual separation. The reference list follows the same double-spacing as the body of the paper.
No Retrieved Date for Website Sources
Writing “Retrieved from https://www.example.com” without a date, or just listing a URL with no retrieval information. ASA requires the full retrieval date — month, day, and year — because web content can change or disappear. A URL without a retrieval date is an incomplete reference.
Include Full Retrieval Date and URL in Parentheses
Format: “Retrieved March 12, 2024 (https://www.url.com).” The URL goes in parentheses after “Retrieved [full date].” Note: no period inside the closing parenthesis if the URL ends the entry. Keep the URL clean — no line breaks mid-URL if possible.
Frequently Asked Questions About ASA Formatting
ASA Paper Taking Longer Than You Expected?
From citation formatting and reference list checks to full sociology paper writing support — our specialist team works across ASA, APA, Chicago, and Harvard at every level of study.
Academic Writing Services Get StartedGetting ASA Right From the Start
ASA is not complicated once you know the rules. The problem is that most students learn it by comparison with APA — “it is like APA but different” — and that is where the errors come in. Those small differences (comma vs no comma, “p.” vs colon, “Pp.” vs “pp.”) are the difference between correct ASA format and a paper that looks like an APA paper formatted by someone who switched style guides halfway through.
Three habits cover most of it. Set your document layout before you write — font, margins, double-spacing. Format citations correctly as you write rather than trying to fix them all at the end. And check your reference list entries against the ASA formats for each source type rather than guessing based on what looked right in another paper.
Citation generators are a starting point, not a finishing point. They regularly produce errors — wrong punctuation, missing elements, wrong capitalisation — in ASA entries. Use them to build the structure, then check every generated entry against the rules in this guide and the official ASA style resources.
For help with ASA-formatted sociology papers, citation checking, reference list formatting, and broader academic writing support, see our academic writing services, citation and referencing support, and proofreading and editing services.
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